Giving Thanks
by FlyWithDamagedWings
Summary: A short AkuRoku oneshot in honour of Thanksgiving. Roxas and Axel attend a Thanksgiving feast with their friends where Axel directly acknowledges his gratitude for Roxas for the very first time. Then upon arriving back home after the feast, Roxas addresses Axel to find out what it was all about. And much to his surprise, they've both been keeping secrets they're thankful for.


"Axel! Hurry up!" Roxas called from the living room. The blonde was waiting for the redhead to get dressed so that they could head over to Kairi and Naminé's place for Thanksgiving dinner. "We have to be there in half an hour!"

"Calm down!" Axel replied. "I'm almost ready!"

"Oh my—you're like a frigging chick!"

"Shut up!"

He sighed. "Pain," he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

"All right, I'm ready," Axel declared, walking into the living room from his room down the hall.

"It's about freaking time," Roxas stated, a bit exasperated. He turned and his blue eyes landed on the tall redhead. He froze, admiring the way the clothes hugged that slim body. Then his eyes met with green and he felt his face heat up. His gaze dropped to the floor. "C'mon, we gotta get going."

"Hold on," Axel stopped him. "What was that about?

"I don't know what you're talking about." He grabbed his keys. "Let's go. We're gonna be late now because of you."

The car ride was a silent one. Roxas was thankful to be driving so he could keep his eyes off of Axel and on the road. He didn't understand why he suddenly felt this sort of…attraction towards him, though. It had been happening randomly since they moved in together five months earlier. He decided to push all that out of his mind, though, and just focus on the road ahead of him.

They finally arrived at Kairi and Naminé's place just in time for dinner. The others there included: Riku, Sora, Demyx, Zexion, and Xion. The nine of them sat in a circle on the floor with their full plates of food. It was their tradition since the girls got the place because they didn't have a dinner table for the first three months they lived there.

"Before we dig in," Naminé spoke up, "would anyone like to say a few words of thanks?"

"I'll say something," Xion decided. She put her plate down and stood up. "I would simply like to thank everyone who is here right now. If it wasn't for all of you, I'd probably be living in the streets. So thank you all for helping me turn my life around and getting me back on my feet." She sat back down.

"I'd like to thank my musical abilities," Demyx said with a smug smile on his face.

"Oh, shut up," Zexion replied. "Please stop being an ass just for today."

The musically talented blonde only laughed at this, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders.

"If Dem can give thanks for that, then I'd like to give thanks for my charming good looks," Riku continued, winking at no one in particular.

Sora nodded. "I second that."

"Wow, you're all horrible at this," Kairi thought aloud.

"My turn," Axel announced, getting to his feet. "Like Xion, I would like to thank all of you. Each and every one of you have helped me in some way or form and I appreciate that greatly." He paused. "Most importantly, though, I would like to thank Roxas. He's been my best friend since middle school and without him I don't know what I would do with myself. So thank you."

"Shut up and sit down," Roxas replied, holding back another blush.

The nine friends then began to eat the food Naminé, Sora, and Zexion had prepared for them all. Their time together was full of laughter and cheers. Then at the end of the night, everyone returned home with leftovers. Roxas and Axel's ride back to the apartment wasn't silent this time, either. But it was the redhead who provided all the talking. Roxas just listened with a small smile as he drove.

"This was probably the best Thanksgiving we've had yet," Axel declared, bursting into the apartment.

Roxas just continued to smile as he followed the redhead in, closing the door behind them.

Axel fell onto the couch with a sigh. His green eyes skimmed over the short blonde. "Is something wrong?" he checked.

"What was that thanks about?" Roxas wondered.

"What do you mean? I was thanking you for being a good friend."

"But that wasn't it," he denied. "There was something else. I mean…why now? Why suddenly decide to thank me this year when you have never directly thanked me before?"

Axel sighed. "You're thinking too much about this, Rox." He stood up and moved to his bedroom.

The blond was quick to follow him. "I'm not leaving you alone until I get an answer I find satisfactory."

"Funny you should say that because I've been telling myself that for months now."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He scoffed. "You're really that oblivious?"

"Axel, please. For once just give me a straightforward answer."

Without another word, Axel practically shoved Roxas against the wall and the redhead pressed his lips to the blonde's.

"Is that straightforward enough?" he questioned after breaking away, his breathing heavy.

He was trying to catch his breath now, too, taken aback. And his gaze had fallen to the floor, but he could still feel the redhead's green eyes burning into him. Then he finally moved away.

"Sorry," Axel mumbled.

"Don't…" Roxas replied, trailing off.

"No. Clearly that was stupid of me to do."

"Don't…" he repeated.

He shook his head. "Whatever." He then sighed, running a hand through his red spikes before sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Roxas was still standing with his back up against the wall. He couldn't think straight. And when he looked over at his best friend, everything just seemed to disappear or fade away. He walked over to him and sat down beside him.

"You don't have to say anything," Axel told him.

"I wasn't planning on saying anything," he admitted. He took a hand to turn the redhead's face towards him and he kissed him this time. "Are you still thankful for me?" he asked after pulling away.

He smiled now. "Only if you are."

The blonde returned the smile. "I am."

"Me too." Axel kissed Roxas again. "I'm thankful for us."


End file.
